China's gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the third quarter was reported at 4.6% year-on-year on Friday according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), marking the lowest quarterly growth since mid-last year and further distancing the economy from its annual 5% target.
The NBS said in a statement: “In face of the complicated and severe external environment and the new situations as well as new problems of domestic economic development, under the strong leadership of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, all regions and departments strictly implemented the decisions and arrangements made by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, adhered to the general principle of pursuing progress while ensuring stability, strengthened macro regulation, deepened reform and opening-up, expanded domestic demand, optimised economic structure, effectively implemented existing policies and accelerated to introduce incremental policies.
"As a result, the national economy was generally stable with steady progress, featuring steady increase of production and demands, generally stable employment and prices, effectively promoted well-being of people, steady growth of new quality productive forces, and solid progress in high-quality development.
"In September, most of the indicators in production and demands improved, market expectation was boosted, and positive factors promoting the recovery of economy were accumulated.”
The growth figure slightly exceeds market expectations of 4.5%, but falls short of the 4.7% growth recorded in the second quarter.
In addition to GDP data, retail sales in September increased by 3.2% compared to the same month last year, a notable improvement from the 2.1% growth observed in August and higher than market expectations of 2.5%.
Meanwhile, China's industrial output saw a robust increase of 5.4% year-on-year, up from a 4.5% rise in August.
Overall fixed-asset investment also grew by 3.4% during the first nine months of the year, consistent with the growth rate recorded over the previous eight months.
However, private investment declined by 0.2% during the same period, highlighting ongoing challenges in the economic landscape.
The latest data follows a series of recent announcements from authorities in Beijing, which are aimed at stimulating consumption and supporting the struggling real estate sector.